The present invention is directed to an electronic game. In particular, the invention is directed to an electronic game in which a player must reach a target position by traversing a maze of obstacles programmed by the player himself or by an opponent. Advance to the target position is entirely controlled by electronic components. The player advances to the target position by progressively occupying intermediate board positions not containing any obstacles. If an obstacle is encountered at a board position, the player is automatically returned to his previous position, and he will need to select a new path to the target position when play reverts to him. Play then shifts to the opponent. There are no player pieces either tangible or imaginary, which must be counted to determine the winner of the game. A game is won by reaching the target position.
Many electronic games are known in the art for playing the well known game of "Battleship". For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,376,041 and 3,640,536. In such games, the location of the opposing player's pieces are unknown. The goal in these games is to seek out an opposing player's pieces and to keep a log of the number of pieces encountered whereas in the present invention the goal is to avoid the obstacles programmed by an opponent in seeking a single target position of known location.
Various games are also known in the art wherein a player seeks to avoid a series of obstacles of unknown locations in reaching a preselected destination point on a playing board. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,088. The patent discloses a manual board game wherein each player is provided with a plurality of colored pieces and a colored transparency for viewing a playing board. Each player arranges his pieces to form a series of hazards or obstacles to the opposing player's moves. The colors of the pieces of one player match the color of the opposing player's transparency. A player attempts to trace a path to a preselected destination point by marking squares on the playing board with a pencil or the like. If a hazard is encountered, the player is advised of the same by his opponent.
Other obstacle games are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,516,671, 3,404,889 and 3,779,553.
Heretofore, there was no provision for a fully automatic electronic game based upon the placement and avoidance of obstacles in seeking a target or destination position.
An advantage of the present invention is that it is relatively simple to learn and play.
Another advantage of the invention is that it requires virtually no linguistic skills, it requires no verbal communication between players and it can be played without restriction of unfamiliar language.
Another advantage of the invention is that it does not require the performance of any tasks ancillary to the selective placement of obstacles and movement of the players, such as score-keeping and recording of prior moves.
Another advantage of the invention is that it is portable and durable.
Other advantages appear hereinafter.